Fresno State welcomed back students on campus for the fall, but some chose to remain virtual during what some students consider an uncertain time of the pandemic.

“I’m fine with being in-person as well, but during these trying times right now I don’t feel safe to do so,” Ashley Glougie, third-year business administration major with a focus in management, said. “Let alone being in one class with 250 students mixing with vaccinated and unvaccinated [students].”

The university currently requires that students on-campus verify their vaccination status or request a medical or religious exemption from the vaccine, but unease remains for some students concerned about the delta variant and COVID-19 transmission.

As of Aug. 30, 74.77% of students are fully vaccinated, 11.20% are partially vaccinated and 8.47% are unvaccinated with either religious or medical exemptions, Fresno State public information officer Lisa Boyles Bell said.

5.55% of students are unvaccinated and not accessing campus, Boyles Bell said.

Glougie said that a major reason behind remaining virtual for the fall is that she does not want to put her father at risk for COVID-19.

“I live with an elderly father; he’s about 71 years old. He has health concerns of his own … So I’m going through my vaccination process still, but my problem is I could still bring COVID to him,” she said.

Jose Fernandez, first-year business administration major, also expressed a similar sentiment in electing to remain virtual for the semester.

“I chose to remain online because everyone’s health is important,” Fernandez said. “With more cases rising again, the only right thing to do was to remain online. Not only for my safety, but for the safety of others.”

According to the Fresno County Department of Public Health COVID-19 data, there are a total of 113,854 confirmed cases in Fresno County as of Aug. 27.

Ricardo Lozada, second-year media, communications and journalism major with a focus in broadcast and sports administration, said he chose to remain online after seeing news that the delta variant was a growing concern in the United States. 

“After I saw this news, I was found with the same uncertainty of 2020 where we didn’t know what would happen … I chose to stay online, as I didn’t want to be moved online right in the middle of an in-person semester,” Lozada said.

He noted that it is frustrating to not have experienced events such as moving in with friends or the typical college life.

“Yes, it is a bit frustrating, but I think I overall made the best decision for me and my family, as COVID is, day by day, changing,” Lozada said.

Virtual learning has also offered the opportunity for students to discover a new means of learning while balancing school and work.

Raymee Corona, fifth-year forensic behavioral science major, said that she recently moved to Visalia. After having her daughter in May, the accessibility of online courses made remaining virtual an easy choice.

“Initially, COVID-19 impacted me significantly because I lost my job and couldn’t pay rent. Luckily, I was able to move back home,” Corona said. “Virtual learning has helped me by allowing me to have a bit more freedom and flexibility to get assignments done while juggling so much in my personal life.” 

With the course of online learning throughout the pandemic, Corona noted that she has grown used to virtual learning, but she still hopes to eventually complete her final semester back in person and have the graduation ceremony she dreams of.

“I also don’t mind adjusting to [online learning] as time passes if it means keeping myself and my daughter safe,” Corona said.

Accessibility and safety are common factors for many students remaining in online courses. 

However, not all courses are virtual. Glougie said that there is a need from many students who wish to have the option to remain fully online during the course of the academic year.

Glougie said she currently has two courses in-person. After contacting the the department chair of her school for help on finding virtual options for classes, she said she has also been reaching out to students through the Fresno State Book Trade and Advice Facebook group who are also struggling to transition to fully online courses. 

“Virtual learning or virtual teaching is completely doable, especially if it’s a lecture [and] if it’s going to be a presentation,” Glougie said.

A class of concern was Glougie’s management 110 course, and after communicating with the management department, Glougie said she was able to attend the course virtually.

“One thing I’ve advocated big time is if we’re going to have … an in-person class, we should also have a virtual alternative, and I’ve advocated for that,” Glougie said. “I hope that the school looks into it, and I know there’s courses, too, that we can’t necessarily be virtual for and that’s understandable. But again, we also made it through during the first year of COVID with these classes being in, you know, online.”